Cold
by SylvanLore
Summary: Trapped in the most desolate, inhospitable place in Eternia, two enemies need to work together to survive.
1. Chapter 1

A biting wind threw hard ice-flakes at Teela's chill-bitten face.

Ahead of her, and indeed around her, rose the peaks of the South Polar Cap. A maze of blue and green ice, floating in the lapping waters, ever changing as the winters froze the icebergs together and the summers melted them. Sun and wind and water sharpened the ice into razors, and she had to navigate carefully lest she'd be tricked by the soft-looking snow.

The wind had picked up. Dark gray clouds covered the sky, not letting a ray of sunlight through and turning the world steel gray. Teela finally admitted defeat and carefully steered her wind raider down to land.

Adam had told her that when He-Man and Stratos had visited the North Polar Cap and first met the Kulataks they hadn't worn much more than their loincloths. Teela had believed she could stand the same temperatures just as well, but born and raised on the tropical Fertile Plains she now realized she had been naive. Too late had she realized that Stratos' feathers had protected him well from the cold, and He-Man had according to eyewitnesses been outfitted with another armor – small, but no doubt imbued with magic that kept him warm. Teela had neither of those possibilities, and she was thankful her father had known better.

"You're mad." he had said. "You have no idea how much you are underestimating the cold."

"I'll be fine, Father." she had reassured while preparing the wind raider. "It's just a short trip, and you have trained me well for temperature shifts."

"That sort of training won't help you in extreme areas such as the polar regions. You must take some warm clothes with you."

She had relented, if just to put his mind at ease. But again she had come to realize how much she had overestimated her training. Thankfully it was a minor if embarrassing mistake. She landed on a plateau which could fit her wind raider, jumped out of the vehicle and dug in the backseat for her extra clothes. All of it carefully picked out by Man-At-Arms.

SNAP!

She looked down and saw a large crack had formed under the vehicle.

It was too heavy.

She dropped the clothes and threw herself to the front seat, but too late. The ice cracked and crumbled into pieces, and the wind raider fell. The water was too close. The only thing Teela could do was change target and she grabbed what was left of the ice shelf. The cold sharp edge cut her almost to the bone, but she was strong and heaved herself up.

The snow seeped into her boots, making them soaking wet and turning her feet into two blocks of ice. She clenched her bleeding fists and crossed her arms, trying to keep the warmth in her body. The wind bothered her even more now than it had on the wind raider, because now it had turned from an annoyance into a catastrophe. Her far too short white dress slapped around her, the whirling ice flakes cut her bare skin. The metal in her jewelries pained her as they drank in the cold.

She was lost.

The Eternian South Polar Cap was desolate and considered life-less. Her vehicle had plummet into the deep, taking with it her clothes, rations and her communicator – her only life-line to the rest of Eternia. She had only a vague sense of where exactly she was, and she was stuck on this iceberg, with the sea around her.

She started to hack teeth, she trembled without control, and she was sure her skin was starting to turn an uncomfortable shade of blue. She wanted to curl up and into herself. The cold was painful in a way she had never been able to imagine. It was like a thousand needles were attacking her, the sharp hard air was almost impossible draw into her lungs. She tried desperately to remember her training in what to do when the temperature dropped, but it was as her father had said – it was practically useless out here.

With nothing else to do she started to walk. She followed the ice ledge and hoped she could find the wind raider washed up on some ice cliffs, or maybe a cave where she could wait for her friends to get worried and start looking for her.

She doubted she could survive that long. But what choice did she have?

She was in deep thought and was rather startled when she suddenly saw footprints in front of her.

They were fresh, with the falling snow she estimated they had been made only a few minutes ago. They were human feet, boot-clad and larger than her own. A man's foot? He had walked around here for a moment, the tracks went back and forth and crossed each other. But the excitement was enough to make Teela momentarily forget her freezing. What luck! She crouched and examined the tracks until she found the ones leading there and the ones leading away. She followed the latter.

They led upwards, following another ledge which went fairly steeply up along the iceberg. She had to thread carefully so not to slip, as the ledge was nothing more but ice covered in a thin layer of snow, and the strong wind howled and rolled against the cliffs and tried to throw her off.

It leveled out ahead, and she hurried there. The tracks were hard to see like this, but they had rounded a corner towards the wall.

She came up, but in her eagerness she slipped.

Her numb body reacted too late. Her feet couldn't get a new grip, and she toppled over the edge. The steel gray waters of the South Polar Cap waited for her below.

A large shadow moved behind her and suddenly there was a vice grip on her arm. A figure draped in thick bearskins had caught her, and dragged her back on the ice.

Teela drew a shaky breath, and looked up to thank the stranger, but found he had already turned his back on her and was heading into … into a high crack in the ice.

A cave!

"Wait!" Teela called and hurried after the stranger. Her legs trembled violently and she collapsed just a few steps into the cave. Her knees hurt as they bruised on the hard ice floor.

There were large backpacks on the floor, and a vehicle parked nearby. The stranger bent over the packs and started fiddle with something.

"Ah … Th-thank you f-for saving me." Teela said and wrapped her arms around her again. ""My vehi-hicle is destroyed, and I-I've lost my p-provisions, my c-c-c-communicator and my c-clothes. Do-do you have a w-way o-out of h-here?"

The stranger stood up again, seemed to think for a moment, then turned towards Teela while felling down his fur-hood.

"You shouldn't thank me just yet." Tri-Klops said.

Teela stared for two seconds, then she shot up and attempted to kick Tri-Klops in the head. But he caught her foot easily and threw her on the ground again. Teela bounced back up and tried to hit him with a clenched bloody fist. But he side-stepped her, grabbed her wrist and threw her back on the ground.

Teela realized she was too weakened by the cold to put up a proper fight, and her aching hands were practically useless, otherwise the two warriors would have been more evenly matched, and Tri-Klops was too bundled-up to take much damage from her hits, even if it didn't look like he was wearing his chest guard under the clothes. But she'd rather die fighting than die of cold – or give up.

But finally Tri-Klops threw her down a final time and no matter how much she forced herself she couldn't stand again. She was too tired, to cold, too dozy. Her eyes stung of tiredness, her hands and knees and her bottom hurt from cuts and bruise after bruise. She shook violently, the ice stun her bare skin.

Tri-Klops stood there for a moment, watching her. Then he returned to his backpacks, and took up ropes he bound Teela's hands and feet with.

She yelled and cursed at him, and tried to kick him, but he just grabbed her legs and forced her down. Hating herself for not being able to fight, and even more so hating him, the enemy who wouldn't grant her a quick end. For what other reason was he binding her, if not to keep her alive? And for what reason was he keeping her alive, if not for a sinister cause?

Indeed, he picked up some cloth he wrapped around her injured hands, the blood seeping through immediately, then a fur cape from his packing and rolled her into it like a carpet, then threw her and the backpacks over his shoulder and set off.

Teela couldn't see very well slung as she was over his shoulder like a sack of vegetables, but he was definitely heading deeper into the cavern. After a while Teela had figured out the cavern was actually the vestibule of a maze of tunnels and caverns stretching deep into the iceberg, like an anthill.

Everything was ice. Shimmering from Tri-Klops' lantern which light was reflected endlessly around them. Dull ice, clear ice, iridescent ice. The floor was a tarnished mirror and Tri-Klops stepped carefully so to not slip. They crossed narrow ice-bridges over deep maws, edged alongside sharp shelves where they had a view over other tunnel openings, navigated between stalagmites and stalactites, and came upon running brooks where sea water had carved its way in and melting water was funneling its way out.

Soon Teela was hopelessly lost, but the inventor of Snake Mountain seemed to know these tunnels well. His purpose here was a mystery.

There was no way to measure time here, other than to count her own heartbeats. After what Teela assumed was several hours Tri-Klops finally stopped. By then Teela was dead tired and her body ached after having hanged like this. Tri-Klops put her down with his bags and pulled out a portable campfire which he lit.

A crackling fire began to burn in the cavern. Teela inched closer to the flames, curled up under the heavy fur, silently thankful for the warmth that finally seeped into her stiff and numb limbs.

Tri-Klops roasted some meat and bread, the smell making Teela's stomach growl. To her great surprise he actually shared some food with her, but although hungry she was reluctant to accept even a single crumb from him.

Tri-Klops studied her with a thoughtful expression, as much as could be determined from what was visible under his visor.

"If you don't eat that I'll save if for my next meal. But I won't offer you anything again. Don't you dare waste food." he suddenly said.

Teela glanced at him with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. But she accepted the food and ate up. Who knew? If Tri-Klops kept her alive long enough she might find a way to escape, or the Masters might find her …

"Why have you spared me?" she asked.

Tri-Klops sat quiet and chewed for a moment.

"I'm sure you can think of countless reasons. Believe whatever you wish." he finally said cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

"I thought I was pretty clear."

"Well, you aren't. Why are you here?"

"Hunting."

Teela felt her heart jump. Was he hunting one of the Masters? Had he thought she had arrived with company? Was that why he had captured her?

"Are you going to use me as a bait?" Teela asked.

"That is an excellent idea. I think I will."

"Don't make any change of plans on my account." Teela sneered.

"On the contrary, you may be of good use in this."

"Anything … or anyone … in particular you're hunting?"

"An uppity warlord who has begun to cause trouble."

"A warlord resisting Skeletor? One of many, perhaps?"

"No, just one. And don't get any ideas, girl. Harga is no hero – he's been plundering villages and slaughtered those who could not provide for him. He is similar to Beastman – almost as strong, just as smelly, and even more violent. He is more likely to rape and enslave you rather than help you." Tri-Klops leaned back.

"Why would someone like that resist Skeletor?"

"Don't you know _anything _about the politics in the Dark Hemisphere?"

Teela hadn't even known there was such a thing as politics in the Dark Hemisphere. Even long before Skeletor's time the Dark Hemisphere had been considered little more than an uncivilized wasteland with roaming packs of bandits. But Tri-Klops' condescending tone made her flush with anger.

By the campfire, Tri-Klops told her that the Dark Hemisphere had always been split into thousands of little ever-changing territories. Much of the Dark Hemisphere were barren cliffs and cold deserts, but there were areas which hosted farmlands, forests which provided game, coastal areas were people were fishers, and in the mountains there were precious ore and gems. These regions were small, but vital. The organs which made the whole hemispherical body survive. Those who controlled these areas had the power, and those who controlled the trade lines had even more power.

The rulers of these territories had been war lords who had constantly tried to take over each other. These war lords had been nobility, merchant princes, cultist leaders, tribal chieftains and common bandits. Keldor had once been one of these war lords, with the difference that _he_ had been the last one standing. Finally he had claimed Snake Mountain as a permanent testimony of his power, the Dark Hemisphere had been united under his sole rule, and all the other war lords had either been killed or been forced to swear allegiance to Keldor. They now ruled as stewards of their regions, paying weekly, monthly and yearly fees to Snake Mountain. The borders were now constant, farmers could work in peace without being preyed upon, traders distributed wares all over the hemisphere, and anyone who disrupted the stability was harshly dealt with.

Thanks to Skeletor, the Dark Hemisphere was enjoying a long period of peace.

Traveling packs of bandits remained, of course, but they knew to keep low enough to avoid the Lord of Snake Mountain's attention. But occasionally a brash chieftain or some of the stewarding warlords would conspire to try and challenge Skeletor's claim of power. Skeletor rarely lowered himself these days to deal with these upstarts. It fell on his minions' lot to do that, which was just another testimony of his power.

"My target is Harga." Tri-Klops told Teela. "He's been gathering followers lately, and refuses to heed Skeletor's demands. He needs to be taken care of before he becomes an actual problem."

"And you need my help with that?" Teela sneered. She put up a confident front, even though she had nothing to give. Everything she had now was by Tri-Klops' generosity, and if she goaded him enough he might change his mind about keeping her warm, fed – and alive. Still, her responses were automatic.

"Every little bit helps. And a beautiful young woman might draw him out."

Teela glared at him.

"He's proven more resourceful than I imagined." Tri-Klops mused, more to himself than Teela. "To think he actually took his escape to the South Polar Cap … I would like to find out more what he knows, and that means I need to capture him alive."

So that was his purpose here. Teela thought of her own mission – to map out the South Polar Cap and search for available resources here. But the South Polar Cap was – or so she had assumed – an uncharted and uninhabited bunch of icebergs. But Tri-Klops seemed to know it well – and seemingly so also this Harga. Perhaps there was more to this place than she had thought?

Before Teela could voice her question Tri-Klops yawned. He pulled out a knife and – to her surprise – cut the ropes from her wrists and feet. She massaged her wrists carefully when the blood came rushing back, and she looked quietly questioning at the man.

"I assume you won't try something so stupid as to flee? Get some sleep. Tomorrow you'll carry your own weight." Tri-Klops said and rolled himself up in his own fur cape.

Teela watched him, unable to tell when he fell asleep. The blood rushed to her cheeks in hopeless anger. She was stuck with him. Even if she killed him and took his supplies she still didn't know the way out. She would wander around here until the cold or starvation took her. The Masters had no way of finding her here. There were no tracks on the ice she could follow back to the opening.

She was stuck here, with Tri-Klops as her only life-line. And he knew that.

She wanted to hit him. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to scream and rage and do _something_.

Instead she rolled herself up in the fur skin Tri-Klops had given her, curled up into a ball to keep warm, and tried to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

She woke up the next morning (or so she assumed it was) to the smell of toasted bread and cheese. Like yesterday Tri-Klops gave her some rations, and after eating and some cleaning they got ready to leave. Tri-Klops gave Teela a pack to carry herself, and she took it without protests. She didn't know what was in it, but if they got separated she might need it.

Teela felt much better than yesterday, though the big fur was difficult to keep around her while carrying the pack on her back. Her legs flapped in and out of the fur, the chill stinging her thighs each time. Her boots felt damp and caught the cold quickly. Still, she managed to keep up with the inventor. They walked in a brisk pace for hours. They took a short break to have a brief lunch, then continued.

As before, Teela had no idea where they were heading. Deeper into the iceberg, she assumed. Tri-Klops' lantern lit their way, and Teela watched fascinated as they passed the amazing formations that had been carved in the ice. A waterfall of molten snow, pillars, and even something that looked like ancient insects embedded in the ice.

Water dripped around them, forming cones from the roof and from the floor.

"I've never known the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite." Teela said.

"Stalactites cling to the ceiling; Stalagmites grow from the ground." Tri-Klops said, emphasizing the "c"'s and "g"'s in the words without even turning around. Teela looked astonished at his back. Now she would never forget it.

Deeper and deeper into the iceberg they went, finding great halls and narrow tunnels, until Teela wondered if she was ever going to see sunlight again. She had no idea what direction they were heading, or if they were even sticking to one. They crossed an askew ice bridge flanked by a broken ice column, and two hours later they walked at the bottom of a ravine with the same bridge high above them. Did Tri-Klops even have a destination in mind, or was he just meandering, hoping to run into this Harga by chance?

The thought made Teela gloomy. It took a moment before she started to notice something odd;

Someone had sculpted these tunnels.

She had bypassed it at first, but now when she looked closer she realized some of the stalagmites were actually statues, of robed men and women, worn and slightly disfigured by time and shifting ice. There were old lanterns and fire bowls in niches in the walls and the pillars, and pots and chests on the floor, frozen over for centuries, broken shards of pottery sometimes found among the crystals of broken ice. The further they went the more they found.

"Did someone used to live here?" Teela asked after suddenly seeing what looked like sarcophagi along the wall in one hall.

"A cult of mages called the Order of Hydros. They researched magic here, believing they could find spells of immortality in the preserving capacities of ice. They experimented on animals, slaves, each other, and were eventually wiped out. But some of their experiments still roam the lower levels. In these tunnels we only need to worry about packs of laigreks, but we need to be careful. I'd rather avoid fighting them, and we must not go down to the lower levels."

"You've been here before." It was not a question.

"Yes."

"Did you go down to the lower levels?"

"Yes." He raised the lantern and illuminated a statue without head or hands. "Keldor had heard of the Order of Hydros, and was very interested in their research. I was sent here to find their writings and relics for him. A waste of time. What hasn't been destroyed is probably sealed in the lowest levels. I found some maps and learned the layout of this place, but the lower levels had been sealed off. I found a rope and climbed down the trap door, but I was nearly killed by the creatures there. In the end I returned empty-handed to Snake Mountain."

"How long ago was that?"

Tri-Klops thought for a moment.

"Eighteen years ago."

"Things must have changed by now?"

"I doubt it. Things last here." He stopped and looked around. Teela followed the movements of his head. Left, right. A broken bench, a wall hanging with a vine pattern. "The maps were drawn six hundred years ago, and they are still accurate. The creatures below hibernates. Then, when a prey enters their domain, they wake up from their slumber. It's more than just ice. It's magic."

They walked for a moment more. Then Teela asked:

"And what of this … Harga, was it? Why did he come here?"

"I don't know, and that worries me."

Several more hours passed. Teela was starting to wonder when they would make camp again when Tri-Klops stopped. She almost walked straight into him. She was about to ask him, but stopped herself. He was listening. Intently. She perked her ears and tried to hear, and soon she caught what he must have heard:

A scraping noise, as of lots of claws running on ice.

Tri-Klops grabbed her arm so suddenly she almost yelped. He dragged them both into a natural alcove in the wall behind a large cluster of stalagmites, and dimmed the lantern. The rhyme Tri-Klops had taught Teela bounced around in her head. _Stala-g-mites g-row from the g-round._ He pressed both their backs against the wall, one iron arm across Teela's chest as if he didn't trust her to stand still.

A few heartbeats later the sound of claws became louder. Teela peeked between their fence of stalagmites. Creatures had come into the hall. Large creatures, six of them, looking like a mixture of wolves and lizards, with shiny black plating and yellow eyes. Their long tails wagged back and forth as their hind legs moved. They stopped just outside the stalagmites and sniffed around, on the floor and in the air where the two had walked. Then they continued down, in the direction Tri-Klops and Teela had come from.

The two waited a few minutes, then Tri-Klops released his clamp hold on Teela, and Teela let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"What … were those?" she whispered.

"Laigreks." Tri-Klops said. "They have very good eye sight, but their other senses are bad. Our tracks will fool them the opposite way for a while, but they may soon give up when the tracks become faint. We need to move."

Teela was sure they went even further that day than they had yesterday. Eventually they came upon what once had been a populated area, doors and rooms and corridors, with furniture and decorations. But much was broken or covered in thin sheets of ice. Tri-Klops found a room where they made camp. It was a small square room, with a fire place and some empty crates. Tri-Klops barred the sturdy door and broke some of the crates and made a fire on the hearth. Teela went through their rations. They had enough to last several days, and some traveler's bread that could last for weeks. Still, Tri-Klops told her to save as much as possible, and it made sense. He had not expected company to share his food.

"So how are you going to find this Harga?" Teela asked while they ate, meat and root vegetables which they ate with their hands.

"Since I don't know his purpose here, I am unsure of his destination. But there are a few points of interest here, so I can make some estimations."

"Are they far?"

"Not very. There's the library, the treasury, and the armory."

"What if … You said the Order of Hydros sealed their relics in the lower levels. What if he's after them?"

"Possibly, but he won't survive a journey down there. It is also possible he only came here to throw off any pursuers." He made a frustrated gesture. "But there must be more to it. How did he know about this place? Why did he come here? Many have challenged Skeletor in the past, all kinds of people, and all have failed. What makes Harga think he will be different? What does he think he has to his advantage that no-one before him had?"

Tri-Klops stared at the wall in front of him without seeing it, lost in thought. Then he shook his head.

"We'll head for the library tomorrow. We'll look for traces of him. He's ahead of us, but he probably knows he's being followed. Let's hope he doesn't know there's two of us."

Once again he rolled up and fell asleep. Teela sat up for a while longer, watching the fire dance on the hearth and listening to how Tri-Klops' breaths became deep and even. She studied the man who was one of her deadliest enemies, and now lay and slept sweetly like a child not one meter away from her. The firelight was reflected in his visor, shimmering in the green metal and the orbs of red, blue and green glass. He had bundled the cape up under his cheek so his head could rest easily even with his visor. She wondered how he could be comfortable with that thing. It must be so bulky and always get in the way.

It wasn't warm in the room, but it wasn't freezing either. She pulled off her boots. They were sour after two days in the snow and constant walking. She put them in front of the fire so they would dry until tomorrow. It felt good to have her feet free. Her toes were slightly wrinkled from the moisture of thaw and her own foot sweat. They were cold and numb, and ached slightly. She massaged them gently to lure back some blood into them. She needed socks. Several pairs. And thick pants and a warm shirt. And gloves. She hated the cold here. She had been hurt in battle before, strained her body during training until her body ached so she couldn't sleep at night. But this was different than anything she had felt. She had never known cold such as this. It seeped into her skin and into her flesh and even into her bones. She slid her hands over her thighs. Her skin felt rough and knotted, and now and then a shiver would wrack her body and make her knees drum together.

"Are you freezing?"

Teela looked startled up. Tri-Klops had craned his neck and was looking up at her.

"Weren't you asleep?" she asked, a hint of accusation in her voice.

"I'm a light sleeper. Are you freezing?"

"A bit. Not as much as I used to."

"Don't put on a tough act before the cold. It won't be fooled. As soon as you start feeling dizzy it has become dangerous. I won't depend my life on your pride, so if you start feeling confused you must let me know."

"Since you only speak in riddles, I'll have to get your attention all the time."

"It's hypothermia, girl. Your body temperature drops too low, you become disorientated, you loose motor functions, you start hallucinating, you die. If you're lucky you might survive, but get frost bite instead. Fingers, toes, nose, ears … they grow black and you might as well chop them off. Keep your body core warm, head and torso. Lie with your legs higher than the rest of your body, make sure your blood flows easily to your organs and your brain, let gravitation help you. Drop your jewelries, they're only stealing warmth from you."

"But I only have this cape you gave me! How am I supposed to keep warm?"

"We'll see if the Order left some clothes here. Perhaps the magic here has preserved them as well? But in the morning. It's too dangerous to chase around now when the laigreks are the most active."

* * *

Thanks to you who gave me reviews on the first chapter. This is the first story I've ever published, and so far it's more or less a test drive. I'd like some constructive criticism, what you think is good and what you think is bad. Especially my character writing - Tri-Klops is fairly easy, but I find it hard write Teela well.


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